Hard Numbers: Kenya restarts railroad project without China, South Africans return from Ukraine war, the rapper who wants to run Nepal, Russians say things are going well

$4 billion: The amount Kenya wants to raise in order to complete a partially built railway line that was abandoned in 2019. The project, which will link Nairobi with South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya, came to a halt after initial funding from China dried up. This time around, Kenya wants to finance the project itself, through new import tariffs, rather than return to Beijing. It would be the country’s biggest infrastructure project since gaining independence from Britain in 1963.

15: The number of South Africans who have returned to their country after allegedly being lured under false pretexts into fighting alongside Russia in the war with Ukraine, according to South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa. Russia’s reliance on African mercenaries has been in the spotlight lately. Kenya’s government believes at least 1,000 of its citizens have been recruited as well.

35: The age of the rapper who wants to lead Nepal in the wake of the Gen-Z uprising that overthrew the government in September. Balendra Shah, known to his fans as Balen, won the race for mayor of Kathmandu in 2022, the capital, and is hoping to become the next prime minister in the general election on March 5.

64: The percentage of Russians who say their country is moving in the “right direction,” according to the latest study by the independent Levada Center in Moscow. That’s down 6 points since last September, but it still dwarfs the 23% of people who say things are going poorly. How can you trust a poll in Putin’s Russia? It’s a good question, and we answered it here.